Kewanee historical museum opens for season Thursday

The Robert and Marcella Richards Museum of the Kewanee Historical Society will resume regular hours Thursday after being closed for the winter.

The museum at 211 N. Chestnut St. will be open on Thursdays and Saturdays from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and will also will be open the morning of Saturday, May 11, as part of Kewanee’s participation in National Train Day.

Visits to the museum at other times can be arranged by appointment.

The museum, according to Larry Lock, museum director, occupies three floors of the former Butterwick Hardware store, which was an important part of Kewanee history, operating from 1868 to 1966. The then newly-formed historical society purchased the building in 1977 and under the leadership of Robert and Marcella Richards turned it into a museum.

As usual, according to Lock, there is always something old that is new at the museum.

New items this spring include an antique spinning wheel originally used in Kewanee, 1930s copies of the Prairie Farmer magazine featuring articles about local contestants in state and national cornhusking contests and a ledger book with minutes and financial records of the 1908-1913 Kewanee Boilermakers, a professional minor league baseball team.

The displays in the museum cover virtually every facet of the city’s history, Lock states, including the 20 years of Wethersfield history before the founding of Kewanee in 1854 and even some Native American and natural history artifacts. Displays feature churches, schools, hospitals, military, industries, retail businesses, civic organizations, and parks, among others.

Special features include four rooms of furnishings representative of the early 1900s and the National Cornhuskers Hall of Fame. Various printed materials and many scrapbooks are also available for researchers of local history.

Anyone interested in joining or seeking information is invited to stop by the museum during regular business hours or contact Lock at 853-4572. Also any group, young or old, that wishes to tour the museum should call to make arrangements.